The Spare
by Futago no Akuma Shimai
Summary: She wasn't going to lie, Marivi had fucked up her life all on her own, but she wasn't going to drag anyone else down with her… not over her dead body, besides they needed her as much as she needed them. They were family now. One word of advice: don't investigate glowing lights unless you want to fall into another world. Eventual OC/Kakashi
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:** _Prolog_

 _Disclaimer: I would not be here if I owned Naruto… besides I would have had Orochimaru burned to the stake, I hate pedophiles._

"You got my head spinning, no kidding" **Japanese**

 _"I can't pin you down"_ _ **Spanish**_

 _'Give you're all to me and I'll give you all of me'_ _ **Thought**_

 ** _"My heads under water, but I'm breathing fine" English_**

She was born to (19 year old) high school sweethearts on May 5th, 1998 at 2AM in a small hospital located in Colombia. Currently, she was 17 years old and finishing her last year of high school all the while continuing to sort out affairs (aka. College) for the next year. She wasn't necessarily the best student in the world, especially towards the beginning of high school where she barely had any passing grades… in fact her parents thought it was a miracle she was even graduating to be honest.

Overall one can say that the life of one Marivi Arteaga was an average one; she had a mom and a dad. And like most parents in this modern day and age, they had gotten divorced when Marivi was 12 years old (in 2010). Thankfully, her parents, Selena and Jose had parted on surprisingly good terms (mutual really, as the spark of their marriage had fizzled out years ago despite their various attempts to rekindle it) in the end. Marivi spent the majority of the year living with her mother and the holidays (as well as any available weekends) with her father.

She liked the arrangement, she had known since she was little that her parents were only together because of her. So their divorce wasn't really a surprise or unwelcomed to the pre-teen version of herself. To be honest Marivi could often feel the tension between her parents whenever they were in a room together before the divorce, it was stifling. So in a way it was liberating for her parents to separate, she didn't feel guilty for their deteriorating relationship anymore, and most importantly she wasn't holding them back. They had been miserable together, so Marivi had been accepting to her parents even though their decision drastically changed her life in order for them to find happiness…

Besides both of her parents had moved on with their lives and were happily remarried with budding new families on the way… it didn't hurt at all that her parents seemed to have forgotten their small-original-family of three so quickly, really!

To be fair though she did like her step parents and her three half/step-brothers.

Her dad had remarried in 2011 to a very normal-loving and completely unlike the evil step moms that you see on the telly or in any drama- Puerto Rican women named Luisa, she was a fellow divorcee and she had full custody of her seven year old son, John, from her first marriage. She was a good woman and very spirited like her dad, she had always made sure to make her feel included. Luisa had given birth to her half-brother Carlos Daniel in 2013; she had never seen her dad so happy.

Her mother on the other hand had remarried a strict but loving Japanese man (who lived in Tokyo, Japan with her mother, therefore so did she), Nakamura Yuki. He had never been married before, nor had any children of his own (not even nephews/nieces as he was an only child), and he had been rather awkward towards her at first… not that she helped in that department as she had been resentful and a bit (a lot) hateful towards him since it was his fault that they had to move to Tokyo from New York when she was 15. After her half-brother Mizuki, "Mickey," was born the previous year he had softened towards her. Marivi just guessed that parenthood had finally kicked him in the rear, but he was too late.

They all were really. Resentment had built up in her heart since her parents split and teenage bullheadedness had only made it worse. Sure she loved her parents and the new families they were building… but she felt so alone. She was like a _spare_ part that wasn't really necessary for a machine to function properly, they didn't need her and they could live without her in the end.

At first it hadn't been so bad. Sure her dad had gotten married a year after the divorce… a little too soon, sure, but it was manageable. Then her mom got remarried two years afterwards and her dad had practically replaced her and had a kid, and just a year later her mom did the same thing! On top of that her mom's remarriage changed everything! She had to leave her home in the US, her dad and his family, all of her friends, school… hell she had to learn how to speak Japanese!

Hormones and teenage rebellion had hit her at a difficult moment of her life. Despite the fact that Marivi was definitely not an idiot by any standards, she was a solid B student in school (and she knowledgeable about a lot of things that other people called "useless" information, like how to navigate by reading the constellations in the night sky), unfortunately though she was still said hormone-driven teenager who went through a difficult time after the divorce, the sudden remarriages of both of her parents, moving to an entire new continent, learning a new and extremely difficult language, as well as the births of her half-brothers.

Marivi fell into a bad crowd at the beginning of high school, that is, after she learned to speak Japanese. She would cut class when she felt like it to go to the roof to smoke a joint, skip school entirely when there were exams and "forget" to do homework assignments regularly. She'd go out clubbing and sneak home in the early mornings drunk off her ass, she even got involved with gang affairs. She had various "boyfriends" that she'd fool around with for fun after she lost her virginity one of the first nights she went clubbing and had had less experience with drinking. Basically Marivi had been a mess. _Broken._ She was drowning, calling out in silence for help, but her _family_ never came to save her from herself. They just never noticed. As both sets of her parents hadn't realized anything was going on, when she learned she was pregnant (after her birth control failed her) due to her carelessness, they had been so surprised.

Marivi on the other hand had just laughed bitterly at their expressions when she told them that Easter; it was needless to say that they hadn't taken it well at all.

Her 18 year old baby-daddy didn't want anything to do with the kid she was carrying and it didn't really matter to her either way as she had been planning on keeping him/her in the first place. She hadn't made the brightest of choices in her life, but she had morals. After watching her parents rebuild their lives (unintentionally) without her and have new kids, she realized that babies gave their parents unconditional love… and some part of her promised that if her irresponsible actions, yes she was aware that she was behaving rashly, led to some love-child she would keep the babe and raise him/her right.

It had been five months since she had come somewhat clean to her parents, she never really explained the reason why her life spiraled nor did she really forgive them for not helping her in her time of need, and she was in the process of getting her life together again. She hadn't been skipping classes or missing homework assignments anymore, after all her baby's Mum wasn't going to be a high school dropout even if it killed Marivi in the progress, she also cut ties with the majority of the people she'd been hanging with… not that she would have been able to see the majority of them anyway as her parents finally started paying more attention to her.

When they had realized the extent of misdoings that Marivi had been doing they had decided that they needed outside help in order for things to get better. In other words the entire family was going to therapy together. It's as bad as it sounds, but it did help. Her relationship with her parents was completely ruined at the beginning of the sessions but now it was only strained, mostly because she didn't want-was afraid-to reach out again. The therapist told her she was depressed because she felt rejected by the people who were supposed to love her the most and had developed self-depreciating (and self-hatred) tendencies, hence the sleeping around, because she felt she wasn't worthy or some shit. Personally Marivi thought the man was a little touched in the head as she had never really said anything to him in their "hour-long-get-togethers."

It was August, so she thankfully didn't have any classes at the moment with summer break in full swing. That was something that she didn't particularly like about Japan, summer vacation started too late and ended early. Her high school didn't even have air conditioning so the warmer months were agonizing to sit through in a class room. Unfortunately for her, classes hadn't really ended. Her parents, in an attempt to keep an eye on her without putting her in house arrest, were having her attend a summer class on Art (mostly drawing and painting) that the local library was hosting. The head librarian was a friend of her step-dad, so she let them know whether she made it to class on time and when she departed to go home. Currently though Marivi was finally on her way home, being pregnant was tiring beyond belief.

It was early evening now; the sky was starting to pink beyond the grey clouds that were sprinkled across the heavens as the sun started to disappear over the horizon. A gentle but humid summer breeze licked her cheeks playfully; carrying the smell of rain with it as it touched everyone walking promising more showers to continue to fall, and Marivi could still hear the ringing bell-like laughter of children at play. As she walked pass a store window, Marivi couldn't help but stare at the reflection of the girl-no-woman standing before her. She could barely recognize her own reflection staring back at her.

She was a petite thing, barely making 5" in height, and usually most of her (ex-)friends seemed to make her look like a dwarf when they stood by her. Her mid-thigh length hair was dyed an auburn color and was in two pigtails (reminiscent to how her favorite Addams character, Wednesday, used to wear her hair) ended half-way across her belly, a black and white beanie that she had knitted herself sat comfortably on her head. She had on a white summer-maternity-dress that flowed gently down to just above her knees was striking against her slightly tanned olive skin; a thin cotton black cardigan (that really wouldn't be able to shield any one from the cold) clung to her body, it didn't have any buttons and left wide open displaying her pregnant belly proudly. She wore cute black stockings that had a little panda on the knees where the socks then turned white from above the caricature underneath the dress (she had bought them at Hot Topic), her favorite ankle length black convers where snug on her feet as she took each step.

Her messenger bag followed the panda motif as it had several cartoon pandas in different poses scattered all over it, there was a cute panda plushy key-chain, as well as other rubber key-chains from popular manga/anime series that Marivi enjoyed to watch. Her bag carried her favorite giant (baggy) sweater that belonged to one of her cousins already in college that he has brought with her just in case it was freezing in the library, her sketchbook and art materials, her kindle, computer and iPod along with their chargers and headphones were tucked away in one of the "invisible" pockets. A small makeup bag and a maternity book had also been squished alongside her wallet, keys and a half-way full Contingo bottle (with vanilla tea). Her honey brown eyes framed by long dark eye lashes shined in the sunlight, a cute slightly up-turned nose rested on her heart shaped face, full pouty lips painted red were smiling gently at the scene. _'Dear lord, I have changed.'_ she mused absentmindedly.

Her round protruding belly didn't take away from the woman's beauty, it enhanced it. She was glowing with joy and pride as she absentmindedly rubbed her tummy with love. She was a mother, a young one, but a mother.

She could hear the older lady's nearby criticizing-gossiping really-the "youth of today" after they had caught sight of her, Marivi couldn't help the mischievous and smug smile pull on her lips as she haughtily looked at them momentarily before she visibly dismissed them by rolling her eyes and moving forward. Thankfully she was able to stifle her laughter at their sounds of indignation; it was always fun to play with the house wives.

The sky had darkened considerably since her walk home had started; thankfully the streets of Tokyo were still full of as much life as Manhattan's Times Square, so she wasn't too nervous. _'Next time,'_ Marivi promised herself silently, _'I'll go home earlier, I don't particularly want to walk in the dark on my own…'_

She was about three blocks away from the apartment complex she lived in with her mum and step-dad when she saw it. She had been passing by the alleyway of a family restaurant that her parents really liked when she saw a mysterious ethereal-like glow coming from next to the trash bin.

 ** _"Got a Secret; Can you Keep it; Swear this One you'll Save; Better lock It in Your pocket; Taking this One to The grave…."_** The creepy ringtone blared from the little pocket her cardigan had, scaring half of her life away.

 _"Shit.. fuck, I have to change mum's ringtone… it's only funny when other people freak out not me…"_ Marivi mumbled in her native tongue as she fumbled to answer her now very over protective mother.

"Mami? What's up? I'm almost home…" Marivi asked semi-curiously as she heard the clangs of pots and pans, her mom was probably in the middle of making dinner when she had decided to call her only daughter to see what was taking her so long.

"Hey baby, that's good I was wondering where you were… you were taking too long. Your usually home by now." Her mother's gentle voice asked concerned.

"I'm three block away, Ma. I'll be home in like five minutes.." Marivi informed her mother as she was about to keep walking home before the glow from the alleyway, which had disappeared momentarily when her phone started ringing, returned at full force. "What… what is that?" Marivi whispered in awe and wonder as she slowly moved closer, her hand was resting protectively in front of her belly as the light seemed to pulsate with life.

"What's what? _Marivi Rosa Arteaga!_ What's going on?" Her mother said now panicking, looking back on that day Marivi was certain that her mother had somehow known that she was never going to see her daughter again if she followed the light and she was right. "Come home right now! _Nina, me esatas oyendo!? Respondeme!"_ her mother said now slightly hysterical as switched from Japanese to Spanish in her haste to get a response from her daughter. The instincts of a mother are never wrong.

The next thing she knew, Marivi had tripped on a Coca-Cola can that was on the floor and was falling through the weird light.

"Mami!" she shouted in panic turning as she fell so that she wouldn't land on her stomach, quite literally, into a "new" world.

 ** _Translation:_**

 _"Mami/Ma"=== "Mom; informal"_

 _"_ _Nina, me estas oyendo!? ¡Respóndeme!"===_ _"Girl/Child, can you hear me!? Answer me!"_

 ** _Preview:_**

 ** _'What the hell is going on?'_** **Marivi thought bewildered as she stared at the whiskered cheeked face of a very wide-eyed broken little boy staring mournfully back at her with the clearest blue eyes she'd ever seen from where he was hiding under a cardboard box.**

 **"We should stick together, huh?" she told the lost-looking boy cuddling into her side, "That way, I'll never leave your side, and we'll never be alone, k?" she told him gently, staring into the hopeful cerulean blue eyes, "It's a promise of a life time." She told him extending her pinky and smiling lovingly at the boy when his own boney digit wrapped around hers.**

 **"Promise." He repeated, agreeing, giving the woman blinding smile… he knew it too, she would never turn her back on him.**

 ** _Author's Note:_** **_Yea, yea… I know, I'm insane for writing another story while I'm currently writing two others at the same time… but the idea wouldn't go away! I had actually had this idea bouncing around in my head for a while but I never had the chance to write it out before. If some people find that this first chapter/prolog is similar to another fic it's because I'm basing it off another story… who's name I really can't remember… only that the OC's name is Rae(/Ray?)…. Anyway if any of you guys know what it's called please tell me! Other than the fact that my OC arrives to the Naruto universe by falling into bright light and making friends with a much younger Naruto, it's going to be very different from aforementioned fic whose name escapes me…_**

 ** _Anyway if any of you read my other fics, like 'Across the Sea we Found It,' you will know that this isn't my first teen pregnancy fanfic… the truth is I have two close friends that are teen moms and I respect them so much that I've kinda incorporated that into my stories… Hehehe… Any way I haven't decided the gender of the baby yet, maybe I'll make a poll… you guys should vote for it! I'll be updating this fic monthly like my other stories! Enjoy!_**

 **2,594 words**

 **FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW**

 **Love, Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:** _Old Eye's_

 _Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Obito wouldn't have… well you know… and Kakashi would have had a happier life!_

"You got my head spinning, no kidding" **Japanese**

 _"I can't pin you down"_ _ **Spanish**_

 _'Give you're all to me and I'll give you all of me'_ _ **Thought**_

 ** _"My heads under water, but I'm breathing fine" English_**

Her head was pulsing. It felt almost like she was suffering from the worst hangover in the world. She slowly opened her eyes and immediately shut them afterwards when it only caused her massive headache to spike as the bright sun shined over her. She was on the floor leaning against a wall made of wood (that much she could tell) and despite the fact that the air she was breathing in felt fresh and clean… it smelled really _bad_.

"Ugh, my head…" Marivi groaned pitifully while her right hand began to rub her temple, as her left hand still held onto her cell phone. _'What the hell happened…'_ she wondered confused before the events of the previous night hit her like a freight train. The strange light coming from the alley way on her way home, her mother calling, tripping over a can of soda… falling into the light… her baby!

Marivi forced her eyes open, her honey brown eyes watered and she raised her hand to shield her eyes from the morning light. After blinking away her tears, her hands fluttered around her belly in panic… it wasn't moving, her eyes began to water again but this time for a very different reason. She couldn't help the semi-hysterical giggle-sob the choked out of her lips when she felt butterfly kicks against her (right) hand pressed onto her belly. Calming instantly after making sure that her child wasn't in immediate danger, Marivi took in her surroundings.

She was in an alley behind a building, there were trash cans and giant metal bins as well as plastics bags filled with garbage that hadn't fit in the containers on the sides. There was some loose trash littering the ground around her and a couple of empty cardboard boxes on the ground in front of her, the only problem was that this wasn't the alley she tripped in the night before. The building she was leaning on was made of wood, not concrete like the family restaurant that her parents liked to visit every Sunday and the building in front of where she was sitting on the filthy _dirt_ ground (she wasn't even sitting on a concrete floor!) was a bright shade of _green_. She had never seen a green building in her neighborhood before. Marivi couldn't make out any sounds, other than the clinging of pans coming from the building she was leaning on and the sound of people moving and talking, of cars or the noisy and confusing traffic that large cities like Tokyo are known for.

So that brought her back to the question at hand. Where the hell was she!?

She put her phone in her messenger bag, after checking to make sure that all of her belongings were still in there, and slowly stood up with the help of the wall. She patted of her clothes and was pleased to see that her favorite outfit hadn't been torn or dirtied in any manner, before she cautiously made her way to the opening of the alley. The sight that met her was foreign. Colorful stores and restaurants she had never seen before in her life lined the "streets" (as the "street" was in fact a dirt path not concrete or even asphalt), some of the local plant life seemed to also be a part of the buildings, which seemed to be prominently made of wood and clay, in a unique manner that she'd never seen-nor thought to be possible-in her life.

People were walking busily down the pathway, she could see house wives arguing with street vendors and young children were weaving through the crowds laughing mirthfully or whining to their parents for a sweet. She could see men manning stores or carts or simply making their way quickly down the street to where she assumed they were running late to get to work. But even the people were colorful.

Marivi's eyes were wide as she saw a _full grown man_ walk by the alley with green hair, even his _eyebrows_ were that color! She saw housewives with maroon and purple hair, and some young children that looked like to be identical toddlers (twins?) with sky blue hair and green eyes. Who the hell would dye a baby's hair such a ridiculous shade, wasn't it dangerous for the child in question!? Sure the majority of the people had normal hair colors like brown/black, but they didn't even seem to acknowledge the strange hair colors of the people around them.

Even then, the clothes they were wearing were different from normal. The majority of women seemed to favor creamy dresses with leggings underneath them (or informal kimonos) and open toed blue or black sandals, not many seemed to wearing pants and she saw the occasional housewife with aprons over their clothes carrying baskets with their goods. Men were wearing, what she assumed to be, comfortable pants and tops over fishnet shirts(?) and similar open toed sandals or a mix of traditional Japanese clothes (yukatas) with "modern" clothes… what was up with the freaking sandals, Marivi couldn't see any closed shoes, not a single kid was wearing a pair of sneakers!

And while Marivi had never been here before, she couldn't help but feel the place she was now standing in was familiar. Suddenly her eyes locked onto a familiar swirled sign that was painted a bright red above one of the stores. All of the color drained from her face and slightly green hue flashed across her face, black spots began to race across her vision. Looking up above the buildings she could see a twisted version of Mt. Rushmore looking over the _village_ , the faces of the four Kage's seemed guarded yet protectful of Konoha. She saw a blue and red blur speed across rooftops before they stopped on the roof of what looked like to be a tea shop, there were children running/roof jumping. ' _Ninjas'_ , her mind supplied "helpfully."

She was going to pass out; she backed away slowly into the alley until she reached the end. The palms of her hands pressed into her eyes, and vaguely Marivi realized that she really was going to pass out if she didn't stop hyperventilating. She took a deep breath in and released it shakily; she repeated the process a couple of more times as her breathing began to slow down to a normal rate.

 _'Alright, alright… I'm fine, I'm okay. I need to calm down; panicking isn't good for the baby.'_ Marivi thought as her heart rate stabilized. She clutched her messenger bag to her chest, and slowly opened her eyes again… _'Yup, I'm still here… alright I'm not dreaming, because the headache I have right now confirms that I'm actually awake right now. I'm definitely not drunk or high, as I haven't touched liquor or drugs since I learned I was pregnant, so I'm not hallucinating… Fuck, fuck, fuckity-fucking hell… What have I done to deserve this shit! I mean I wasn't that bad was I?_ ' Marivi asked in despair while looking up at the clear blue sky that definitely didn't match nor empathize with her current mood. Marivi was positive that she was the only person stupid enough to follow a suspicious glowing light late at night in an alleyway and then trip into it, proceeding to fall into a another _fucking world_ that really shouldn't _exist_ as it was a popular anime that always passed on Sunday mornings at eight.

 _'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck… this is real, this not an illusion. Kami, I'm going to die young aren't I?'_ she thought morosely, _'I'm never following a bright light again, Kami, why did I even follow it to begin with!?'_ Marivi promptly decided to stop thinking about the events that led to her arrival in Konohagakure no Sato when tears threatened to spill over her cheeks… crying here wasn't going to help anyone and she'd probably draw unnecessary and unwanted attention to herself. After all, that was the last thing she wanted as she was positive that T &I would probably break her and then dispose of her if they learned the information that Marivi had over their world. She simply knew too much, Marivi in that moment decided that she was going to avoid any and all canon characters.

 _'Alright I need a plan, considering that this is real and I'm not dreaming,'_ she looked around morosely confirming once more that this was her reality, _'I need a job, an apartment and equipment for the baby… it's, fortunately, still summer…I just don't know if winter is particularly hard in Konoha, I think I read that it rarely snows, but I really don't want to take my chances by still being homeless by the time October arrives… Wait a minute!'_

Marivi feverishly looked into her bag, she had just gotten paid (5 months' worth of wages) from her part time job the day before and Marivi was positive that the Naruto world took ryo. _'Yes!'_ Marivi thought triumphantly as she found the stuffed rolls in a secret compartment in her bag, _'Okay, okay, perfect… this is probably enough for me to start renting a small apartment in the red-light district, every city-well-village has one... but first a job.'_

Determined, and with a goal, Marivi cautiously stepped out from the alleyway. After observing some of the stands Marivi began to ask around if they knew any restaurants or shops that had open jobs. Many failed attempts later, thankfully, a young mother, a kind hearted woman that looked to be around 20 years old, led her to a bookstore that was in need of workers. After thanking the women that led her to the store, she made her way inside as the little bell jingled above her head as the door opened and closed.

It was a quaint bookstore, the dusky smell of collected dust and knowledge penetrated her senses. Marivi smiled peacefully, she loved to read (next to art that is) and despite all of the… _events_ that had been commandeering her life recently, her passion for reading hadn't diminished. She made her way through the modest sized bookshelves until she came up to the counter. An old man, with white hair that stuck up in odd places, was soundly asleep on a chair; he was wearing what looked like to be a well-used green yukata. His legs were propped up against the counter and his wire rimmed glasses were falling off his face and the paper-back book he had been reading was leaning on his belly.

"Ano? Excuse me, Oyaji…" she said nervously and jumped in surprise when the old man fell off his seat, waking up abruptly when Marivi began speaking.

He quickly scrambled back up , swearing under his breath at the injustice of the world for such a bad wake up call, and looked imploringly at the girl in front of him, "What'cha want?" he groused.

"I'm so sorry about that Mister…" Marivi trailed off, "Hoshino Yuu" the old man, now Hoshino-san responded. Marivi nodded, "Hoshino-san, someone recommended me to your store; they said you needed workers…."

He looked at her critically, "Hmmm, I do need employees. I'm getting old you see, and it's getting harder and harder for me man the store… the only problem I see here girly is that in your current state you are going to be as useful as I am." Hoshino said pointedly while looking at her belly.

Unconsciously her right hand clutched at the fabric covering her belly, "Please Hoshino-san, I swear that being pregnant won't get in the way of working here.. I- _I_ really need this job- _I_ have no one who can-"

She was cut off by the hand that Hoshino raised, he looked her straight in the eyes, before seemingly finding what he was looking for and nodding. "Have you had an experience manning a store and organizing books/literature?"

"Hai! I used to work at a library and I worked at a café for two years" she told him hurriedly.

"Alright, I'll give you the job… it's not like we get a lot of customers anyway." He confessed to her before continuing, "Be here at 9:00AM tomorrow morning, got it!" he snapped at her.

Marivi grinned happily, "Hai, Hoshino-san!"

"Bahh," he groused while waving her away.

Marivi made her way back out of the store, the sky was already beginning to darken and she didn't have any time to find the red-light district (she really didn't want to look for it in the dark) so she made her way back to the alley she appeared in. After pulling and flattening some cardboard boxes on the ground she sat down tiredly. It had been a long and stressful day. She pulled her messenger bag onto her lap, opening it she took out a salami and ham sandwich (that she never ate from the day before) and a strawberry-flavored milk carton. She ate her meager meal with gusto, thankful that she even had any food before deciding to save half of it for the next day, before falling into a fitful sleep.

Marivi woke up to the sound of angry-drunk-people running by her alley and the sound of shuffling paper and garbage in front of her. Blearily, she opened her eyes and took in the scene in front of her.

 _'What the hell is going on?'_ Marivi thought bewildered as she stared at the dirty whiskered cheeked face of a very wide-eyed broken little boy staring mournfully back at her with the clearest blue eyes she'd ever seen from where he was hiding under a cardboard box. _'Uzumaki Naruto,'_ her mind unhelpfully reminded her, _'Shit, what in the world is he doing here!'_

The blonds hair was caked with dirt and garbage, in fact the only reason she knew it was blond was due to the fact she had already known who he was before she had even met him. He was a scrawny little thing and she could see the outline of his ribs from a tear in his t-shirt, Naruto was as equally filthy as his poor hair, and his clothes (black shorts and a white shirt with a red swirl on it) were full of holes and had definitely seen better days. His eyes were hollow-pools and full of fear as he stared at her in shock and apprehension, suddenly the furious drunk villagers making a scene a couple of feet away from them made sense. _'Crap, fuck, he's being chased by them!'_ her mind panicked and raced as she heard the villagers begin to make their way down the alleyway.

Her eyes reflected fear back at the small blonde before they filled with determination. She wasn't going to let them near him, even if that went against her decision to stay away from the 'main characters.'

She shakily stood up, and the blond trembled further afraid that she was going to give him away. "Oi! What are you doing here!?" she asked the group loudly bringing their attention to her.

"We're-hic-looken fer da-hic-blond demon brat! Cha seen him!?" the 'leader' of the group asked drunkenly.

"Hell no! Now leave will you, I'm trying to get some sleep!" she told him in mock irritation, thankfully they were too drunk to pick up on the tremor of fear that she couldn't shake out of her sentence, they told her to let them know if she saw anything before making their way to check the next alley.

Marivi's heart pounded loudly in her rib cage as she saw them stumble along their way from her and the hiding Naruto, after a couple of minutes passed she quietly moved back to where she had been sitting and plopped on the ground, having lost all of the feeling from her legs. Looking back up at where the whiskered cheeked blond was sitting staring at her with wide hopeful eyes.

She smiled at him tiredly, "They do that often?" she asked him, when he nodded-still too shocked to form words-she scoffed in disgust, "Those bastards, it's people like them that make me ashamed to be a part of the human race." She told him while locking her eyes with Naruto.

He only nodded confusedly before asking quietly, "Why? Why did you help me, no one's ever done that before?"

She looked at him sadly before answering, "It's the right thing to do, if it was happening to me I'd want someone to help me…" she said with conviction. He nodded as if he understood her, but his eyes still shined with confusion as to why someone would want to help him. Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly in the silence of the alleyway and he gripped it in despair… Marivi never felt so happy that she'd saved her food for later before in her life.

She rummaged through her bag before pulling out the half-eaten sandwich and strawberry milk, "I have some food if you're hungry…" she trailed of while gesturing to the small 'feast' in front of her. His eyes drank up the food hungrily.

"Can I- can I really have it?" he asked in disbelief _. 'Those utter bastards! How could they do this to a child! God, I know that Jinchûriki in general have shitty lives, but the manga didn't mention that he had it that hard… then again this is real not a story…'_ her mind raged at the unfairness of the world.

"Hmm, you can really have it… but you're gonna have to come here and get it, it's really hard for me to get up and sit back down." She informed him calmly while rubbing her belly and receiving butterfly kicks in reply.

Naruto looked at her cautiously before his hunger won and he made his way over to her side. Marivi patted the spot on the cardboard box next to her and after he uncomfortably sat beside her, she handed him her breakfast for tomorrow morning. He ate it feverishly; Marivi assumed that it was probably the first meal he'd had in while.

"I'm Marivi. Arteaga Marivi." She told him softly after he finished his meal, "What's your name?" she asked him, knowing that it would be ill-advised to let him know that she'd knew his name beforehand, he might believe that she was trying to hurt him.

After a pregnant pause he mumbled, "Naruto. I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He told her fearfully; afraid that the nice Nee-chan would become mean after learning his name like many others did after figuring out who he was.

"Hmm, that's a nice name." she told him conversationally.

"D-do you really think so?" he asked wide-eyed, no one had ever told him that before, after she nodded he smiled up at her. "I think your name is really beautiful too Nee-chan! I've never heard anything like it before!" he exclaimed happily.

Marivi looked at him wide-eyed at the 'nee-chan' comment before she composed herself so that the blonde boy wouldn't mistake it for a negative emotion. "Unn, it's a foreign name," she informed the starry-eyed chibi who was paying rapt attention to each word coming out of her mouth as he slurped up the remains of the strawberry milk, "my parents and I came from a place far, far away. It's so far away that they speak an entire different language!" she informed the curious blonde.

"Wow, that's amazing!" he told her earnestly, "Ano sa, ano sa, nee-chan… you said you and your parents… whe-where are they?" he asked nervously as he looked around the alleyway as if they would pop out of nowhere.

"They-they're gone Naruto-chan." She told him sadly, after all she couldn't tell him that it was actually her that had disappeared from her parents' lives not the other way around, besides in a way they were gone-dead, she would never see any of them again.

"Ohh," he said sadly before asking, "So you're an orphan like me too nee-chan?"

"Yup!" she said in a mock cheerful voice before adding, "But our parents wouldn't want us to be sad Naru-chan after all they are looking down at us from up above, k? So you can't get sad, promise?" she asked him while extending her pinky finger. He looked at it questioningly before she explained that a pinky promise was the ultimate promise and it couldn't be broken unless the person in question wanted to suffer from a mysterious punishment.

He wrapped his small boney finger around hers with a cheerful "Promise!"

"Naruto-chan?"

"Hmm, nee-chan?" he looked imploringly at her with his big cerulean eyes.

"How old are you?" Marivi asked him curiously.

"I'm gonna be seven soon!" he told her happily, "In two months!"

"Ahh," she hummed, he was too small to seven years old she had thought he was five years old before he had told her his real age. "Naruto-chan, how long have you been living on the street?"

Said boy in question looked up at the sky, it was beginning to lighten-dawn was approaching, "Hmm, almost a year nee-chan, the matron at the orphanage kicked me out on my birthday last year…" he told her, "Why?"

Marivi sighed wearily, "It's wrong that's why. You're just a kid, you shouldn't be out here all alone, someone could have hurt you like it almost happened today!" she admonished while subconsciously pulling him under her right arm, as if to shield him from the dangerous world around them. Naruto's eye's widened but he didn't move from the comforting half-hug.

"But no one's ever cared before nee-chan. Only the old man with the funny red hat, but he hasn't visited me in a long time and I don't know how to find him… and- and it's always just been me!" he told her wide-eyed. She looked down at his shocked expression before making up her mind, _'To hell with the rules, I made them up in the first place!'_ she thought determined before opening up her mouth.

"We should stick together, huh?" she told the lost-looking boy cuddling into her side, "That way, I'll never leave your side, and we'll never be alone, k?" she told him gently, staring into the hopeful cerulean blue eyes, "It's a promise of a lifetime." She told him extending her pinky and smiling lovingly at the boy when his own boney digit wrapped around hers.

"Promise." He repeated, agreeing, giving the woman blinding smile that she returned lovingly… he knew it then too, she would never turn her back on him.

 _Preview:_

 _Since it had actually been the first week of June when Marivi miraculously traveled into the ninja universe, not August like it was in her home world (and wasn't that a weird statement to admit to oneself), she had spent the entire summer working as hard as possible trying to prepare herself for the upcoming winter that she was already dreading._

 _"Arteaga-san and Uzumaki-san are to meet with Hokage-sama right now." The Anbu with an owl mask stated blandly._

 _Marivi swallowed in fear, "I see- we were about to have dinner… can-can it wait till we finish eating?" she asked nervously as she began to rub her protruding belly absentmindedly._

 _"No."_

 **Author's Note:** **Hey, hey! What's up!? It's been awhile no? MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HANUKKAH! HAPPY HOLIDAYS IN GENERL SINCE I DON'T KNOW THE NAMES OF ANY OTHER SEASONAL HOLIDAYS! OH AND, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Please don't forget to vote on the gender of the baby or else I'm just tossing a coin! Please take note of the fact that I'm updating this story, as well as my other two fics, monthly. Expect the next chapter in January!**

 **I'm dedicating this chapter to:** **tabetaisu;** **thank you for being the first follower of this story.**

 **3,752 words**

 **FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW**

 **Love, Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:** _Discovered_

 _Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto … well you know… I probably would have messed it up, haha!_

"You got my head spinning, no kidding" **Japanese**

 _"I can't pin you down"_ _ **Spanish**_

 _'Give you're all to me and I'll give you all of me'_ _ **Thought**_

 ** _"My heads under water, but I'm breathing fine" English_**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was pissed. He hadn't been able to visit his late predecessor's protégée in a while, as the mounds of paperwork on his desk seemed to multiple every time he turned his head away from the never ending sheets of paper that needed to be filled out in order to run the village successfully, and the last couple of times he had tried to visit the poor boy seemed to be "ill" according to the matron. That afternoon he had finally lost his patience and demanded to see the blond Jinchûriki much to the rising ire and fear of the matron who had finally snapped and angrily confessed that she had gotten rid of the blond demon almost an entire year previously.

To say that the Sandaime Hokage was pissed was an understatement of the century. The Jinchûriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, not to mention the only child of the late Yondaime and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero, had been living on his own on the unkind streets of Konohagakure for months (in two months it would be an entire year). Don't get Hiruzen wrong, he loved his village, he wouldn't have come out of his retirement after the death of the Yondaime if he didn't, but he wasn't a blind or deaf man either. Despite Konoha's reputation as a peaceful, 'goody-goody,' village they still had a red-light district that was home to the most unsavory businesses and even small time gangs that were kept under control by the ninja.

He had no doubt in his mind that the villagers had been aware of the six-year old's misplacement from the orphanage and hadn't made it easier for the unfortunate boy who had been kicked out at the beginning of winter. He had a duty to Naruto, not just because he was the holder of the most powerful demon, but because he had been a friend to the boy's late father.

 _'Oh, Minato… what would you think about your beloved village now after they've spat on the face of your only legacy?'_ he wondered sadly looking out towards the village from the window in the Hokage tower. _'Not anymore,'_ he promised as he stared at the stone statue of the Fourth Hokage, _'I will not let them stamp on your son again old friend.'_

"Did you find him Inu?" he questioned, his eyes turning hard as he questioned the silver haired Anbu kneeling behind him.

"Hai, Hokage-sama…."

It had been three months since her initial encounter with the small Jinchûriki, and a lot had changed since then. For one, they thankfully weren't living on the streets anymore. Marivi had been able to purchase a one bedroom apartment that she shared with Naruto in the red-light district at a cheap price, as the building was extremely old and had barely survived the Kyuubi attack almost an entire seven years previously. It wasn't the most beautiful apartment that Marivi had ever seen but it put a roof over their heads, it had running water and electricity. The apartment had a small kitchen that was connected/open to a miniscule dining room; their small shared bedroom branched off from the small hallway that their bathroom was in. She had been able to open/lift up the floor boards underneath her futon where she had hidden all of her technological devices, which surprisingly still functioned despite the fact she was now in an entire different universe. The entire apartment was sparsely furnished and any furniture they did have either came with the apartment originally or they had dragged from the trash and cleaned to be added to their new home.

Since it had actually been the first week of June when Marivi miraculously traveled into the ninja universe, not August like it was in her home world (and wasn't that a weird statement to admit to oneself), she had spent the entire summer working as hard as possible trying to prepare herself for the upcoming winter that she was already dreading.

Her job in Hoshino's bookstore provided her the much needed income to pay for rent, unfortunately there wasn't always enough money left over to pay for food but she Naruto made due with their situation just fine. She worked at the store from 6:30 AM to 5:00 PM when Hoshino decided to close up the shop, she did have a small break for lunch at 1:30 where she and Naruto would go to the nearby park and eat a small modest lunch. Hoshino-san had never prevented her from bringing Naruto with her to work at the bookstore, but he had asked her to make sure that customers wouldn't know that the small six-year old wasn't there. In fact he wasn't mean to Naruto in any form and had actually helped her come up with the once blond Jinchûriki's disguise. From the book store she would go to her second job at the Konoha Archive Library and work part-time for an hour and half, and with Naruto's disguise in place no one knew better that Naruto was there. It was draining as she was essentially working to feed three mouths between her unborn baby, Naruto and herself… but it was definitely worth it, as she finally felt as if she had family again.

She and Hoshino-san had thought it would be best to disguise the small six-year old so that he wouldn't be recognized by the more… vocal-volatile-villagers. They had dyed his once blond hair the same auburn hue that Marivi's hair was, as he was posing as Marivi's biological younger brother, Naruto was just happy that his hair now matched his nee-chan's. He also now permanently wore a lower face mask, reminiscent to the one his future sensei would wear in the not so distant future, that would cover his whisker marks. Marivi also adopted the lower face mask into her wardrobe so that the two siblings would match even more, though with Naruto's naturally olive tan skin and now reddish-brown hair he actually looked like he was related to Marivi, despite the fact that she had some foreign features (that were being covered by the clothed mask) and that he had cerulean blue eyes. Their disguise went so far that she had even given the underfed boy another name, in addition to his Japanese one that is as she would never actually get rid of it as she knew that it was the name her brother's parents had chosen for him with love…. not that Naruto actually knew that. She had given Naruto the name Mateo in honor of her late grandfather who had a very similar bubbly personality that Naruto had, but she still called the auburn haired boy Naruto in the privacy of their home.

Currently though she was walking home hand-in-hand with an equally exhausted Naruto from a long day of re-shelving books and organizing the archives in the basement of the library. She carried two light grocery bags in her right hand and they softly slapped her right thigh as she walked. She had bought three second-hand sets of clothes that were a couple sizes bigger so that they could be grown into, as she hadn't the slightest idea as to when she could by new clothes again, at a thrift ship for Naruto and herself. She was currently wearing a cotton baby-blue overall maternity dress with a thin white t-shirt underneath it and blue ninja sandals that were surprisingly extremely comfortable, Naruto or Mateo, as he was known to the public, was wearing beige khakis and a blue t-shirt with the words 'the sky's the limit' printed onto them (courtesy of Marivi who wanted to make the shirt more interesting) and blue ninja sandals, and the siblings both wore white face masks that covered up to the bridge of their noses.

"Nee-chan? What are we eating for dinner?" Naruto asked curiously as he tugged at the elder girls arm gently.

"Hmm, I don't know… Do you want anything in particular Mateo?" she asked him.

"Ramen!" he chirped hopefully.

Marivi giggled at his anticipation for his favorite food, one week after she took in the excitable chibi she had discovered the Ichiraku Ramen stand and Naruto had surprisingly never had the treat before and had instantly fallen in love with noodle soup after his first bite… it also didn't hurt that Teuchi and his young daughter Ayame hadn't discriminated against him as the first couple of times they had eaten there was before they had gotten him a disguise, besides his beloved nee-chan had bought him ramen despite the fact that she also lived on the street like he did.

"Hmm, sou ka?" she pondered teasingly, inwardly laughing at the pleading expression in her brother's eyes, she could practically imagine the boy chewing his lower lip fretfully in fear that she would reject his request.

"Un, nee-chan! That way you don't have to cook dinner tonight!" he inserted 'helpfully.'

"Oh, really… is that the only reason?" she questioned him as she began to lead them to their favorite ramen stand, her little brother didn't even notice.

"Umm, yea! On top of that if you don't cook dinner we- we can go to sleep early! You've been real tired lately nee-chan." He informed her seriously, "If you don't cook dinner than you don't have to wash the dishes afterwards." He told her while nodding his head at his own logic.

'Too cute.'

"Alright," She conceded as a bright smile formed underneath the white face mask on Naruto's face, "but otouto, you would have noticed that we were already on our way to Ichiraku's if you were paying attention." She teasingly scolded the now sheepish six year old.

"Nee-chan! You're so mean!" he whined, "I really thought we weren't gonna go!"

Marivi laughed amused as the auburn haired boy crossed his arms over his chest petulantly in a playful manner.

Their bowls of miso ramen had just been served when two Anbu-clad shinobi had appeared behind them startling the pseudo-siblings so badly that Naruto had dropped his bowl, to his tearful dismay, on the ground with a cry.

"Arteaga-san and Uzumaki-san are to meet with Hokage-sama right now." The Anbu with an owl mask stated blandly.

Marivi swallowed in fear, "I see- we were about to have dinner… can-can it wait till we finish eating?" she asked nervously as she began to rub her protruding belly absentmindedly.

"No." the same Anbu responded, "Are you adverse to the sushin no jutsu?" he asked in the same droning tone.

Marivi locked eyes with a terrified and angry Naruto, he hopped down from his seat and grabbed a handful of her dress as Marivi grabbed their groceries and stood up to face the Anbu directly. "No." she said softly. The Anbu nodded before his right hand touched her shoulder and they disappeared and reappeared with a poof in front of the Hokage's desk.

Naruto looked around the office in anticipation, he was terrified. His nee-chan had told him this might happen, that the Hokage would eventually realize that he was no longer in the orphanage and that he had been living with his nee-chan for months. She had told him sadly a month ago that when the old man noticed that he was living with an unknown civilian that the old man would probably take him away from her, even if she was his family, even if he was happy for once in his entire life. So, Naruto was terrified that this was going to be the last time that his beloved nee-chan ran her small fingers through his hair in a loving manner-to calm him down-as he clung onto her left side as much as could. He locked his now watering eyes with the old Hokage's wise one's that had always made his day when he came to visit him in the orphanage, in ill-disguised fear and anger, why couldn't he be happy for once?

Marivi looked down worriedly at the small boy hiding his face into her side as she could feel tears begin to dampen into her dress and kiss her skin. She rubbed his back lovingly only for him to tighten his hold on her even more. She sighed sadly before straightening her back and bowing slightly to the Sandaime Hokage sitting behind his desk. "Hokage-sama, might I be able to enquire why we are here?" she asked determinedly, they were probably going to take Naruto from her, but she wasn't going to let the little boy go without a fight.

"Hai, Arteaga-san, I presume?" the Hokage's voice was gravelly with age, but smooth and comforting reminding Marivi of Naruto's name's keepsake. The tired old man sitting behind his desk reminded her of her Abuelo Mateo.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

He nodded, "I believe that you do know why you're here Arteaga-san, as it has to do with the little boy currently crying into you're skirt."

Marivi nervously chewed on her bottom lip before responding, "Hai." She spoke softly, Naruto shuddered against her as silent tears continued to soak her dress.

"I believe that the continuation of this conversation would be able to flow better if young Naruto-kun wasn't here to hear about it." He drawled while his hand motioned at the now very still boy.

Naruto looked at the old man in horror; "NO!" he screamed frantically, "You can't do that Jii- Hokage! Please! Please don't take nee-chan away! Please, please! I'll be a good boy! Please!" he begged brokenly, Marivi bit her bottom lip hard enough to dry blood as she tried to concentrate on not crying.

"Naru-chan." The boy that she had come to accept as her younger brother in all but blood looked at her pleadingly, "It's alright." She whispered as his face fell, realizing that this wasn't something his sister couldn't prevent, tears began cascade down his face once more creating damp tracks on his white mask.

The Hokage took pity on the broken hearted Jinchûriki that he'd failed to protect. "Don't worry Naruto-kun, I won't be making any decisions without hearing your opinion first." He told him soothingly.

Naruto's head bent down so that his face was shadowed by his bangs, "Do you promise?" he asked seriously, after seeing his grandfather figure nod his head he turned back to his nee-chan. "Nee-chan?"

Marivi nodded comfortingly at him and motioned to the door of the office that was being held open by one of the Anbu guards. "Everything will turn out fine. _Remember, te amo._ " She whispered into his hair before giving him a small smile that was returned by the teary-eyed Jinchûriki.

"You are an unknown Arteaga-san. We have no documentation of your arrival to Konohagakure, and no offense, but it's rather obvious that you are foreign." He continued on conversationally after the auburn –haired boy left the office, "Not only that, but you seem to have taken in a child-a Konoha born civilian and disguised him so that he would look as if he was related to you… to be honest I don't know what angle your coming from Arteaga-san."

Marivi's throat was dry, she was terrified. The prospect of the fact that she was in fact living in a shinobi village, full of trained murderers, hit her full force once again as it once had when she originally realized that she had magically teleported herself into one of her favorite manga's.

"I- I don't have an angle Hokage-sama. I-He found me, I mean to say that we found each other." She stuttered out as her right hand began to fiddle with the hem of her dress and her other hand began to rub her belly comfortingly.

The Hokage's eyebrow rose, "Oh, really? Please elaborate that for me Arteaga-san. Besides you still haven't explained to me why no one had ever heard of you until two months ago."

"I don't know how I got here." She blurted out, when dealing with ninjas that could probably hear her heart beat from a mile away with their super hearing Marivi believed it was best not to lie to their faces, especially over something as simple as her miraculous appearance in Konoha, it wasn't worth dying for and orphaning Naruto once more not to mention her own baby. The Hokage's disbelieving expression didn't help sooth her nerves in any manner, "Wha-what I'm trying to say is that- that I literally haven't got a clue over how I arrived in your village Hokage-sama. I was walking home from volunteering at the library my parents had forced me to work at, when I saw a bright light in an alleyway next to a family restaurant three blocks away from my house… I was being reckless when I decided to go investigate what it was considering my current predicament," she explained while gesturing to her very pregnant belly, "the last thing I remember was tripping on some garbage and waking up in a completely different alleyway that I walked into the night before."

Marivi looked nervously at the old man, whose expression hadn't changed at all as she explained the circumstances leading to her arrival in the shinobi village. "I went into a bit of denial after I realized that I wasn't in Tokyo anymore, that's where I was living with my parents, before I worked up the courage to leave the alley and start making plans to find a job and permanent lodging… I decided to save the little money I still had left and made my way back to the alley after Hoshino-san hired me at his bookstore to sleep for the night. I- I met Naru-chan that night. I woke up to the sound of drunken men trying to find a 'demon brat'… at first I was confused but when I looked up Naru-chan was huddling next to garbage bin looking like death had warmed over-and I've just never seen a person look so terrified before in my life." She confessed as the events and emotions that transpired so many months ago when she had first met her little brother came back at full force.

"I knew instantly that they were talking about him, so I tricked those drunk bastards into believing that Naru-chan was not in the alley and 'promised' to call them if I found or heard anything. After that, we- we just clicked. I gave him the rest of my sandwich and he was just so surprised that anyone would not only protect him from harm but also feed him! He- he was so small and lonely that he opened up to me right away! What would have happened if I was horrible person like those drunks that had just tried to kill him? What would have happened to him if I had just been tricking him!?" she ranted, as she began to pace nervously, not even looking at the Hokage, "I promised him." She said determined, finally looking back up at the aged leader, "I promised him that he would never be alone again. Hokage-sama, I don't want to break that promise."

The Sandaime's hands were folded under his chin as he looked at Marivi, "I believe you." He finally said at last, and Marivi couldn't help the relieved sigh and slightly hysterical giggle that escaped from her lips. "But Arteaga-san, you are still an unknown individual with a mysterious background and history. Like you said before, how do I know that you aren't using Naruto or trying to hurt him?"

Marivi, in all of her infinite wisdom, had forgotten that Naruto wasn't just a lonely little boy that craved and needed a family, he was also a living breathing weapon that she could have been using in a nefarious plot to destroy Konoha. Not that Marivi would ever do that, but the Hokage didn't know that.

"By the widening of your eyes I know that you are aware of what I am implying Arteaga-san." He stated.

"I- I do know what your implying. But I would never do that!" she gushed out.

The Hokage's eyes narrowed, "Hmm really? You would never use the demon sealed in young Naruto's gut to fulfill your own purposes?"

"Never!" Marivi shouted semi-hysterical before forcing herself to calm down, "I'm not a manipulator, nor a murder… I'm not even a trained fighter. I don't have any allegiances outside of Konoha, an-and my family is gone. Naruto and my baby, the-they've given me a purpose to go on. I would never hurt Naru-chan in that way, it's too cruel." She whispered.

Marivi refused to fidget under the Hokage's scrutiny, she had nothing to hide (well other than future, but she wasn't going to involve herself in that for another few years), she just wanted to take her little brother back home where he belonged.

 _Preview:_

 _Marivi blinked rapidly as the information the Hokage explained to her sunk into her skull, "I see… th-that's rather smart."_

 _The Hokage snorted at the mystified and some-what dumbfounded expression on her face, "Were you doubting me Arteaga-san?" he questioned her somewhat teasingly._

 _Marivi's eye's widened dramatically as she flailed her hands in denial, "NO! No, that's not what I meant! I was just saying that-" her nervous explanation was cut off by the Sandaime's soft chuckle, causing a small frown-pout-to tug on her lips, "You were just teasing me, weren't you?" she accused, only to receive a small smile in return._

 **Author's Note:** **Hey guys! It feels like it's been forever since I last 'saw' you guys! I hope you've enjoyed this latest chapter and I'll see you next month! (Please read the bottom fo an explanation for why this chapter is so late).**

 **On a another note, I know his chapter is a little late by my standards considering that I always post it on the 24** **th** **but I have been having a really tough moment in my life right now. I've been really depressed since October, and it got so bad that I was feeling suicidal for a while (I still am really)…. I've lived with depression all my life really and this time it just really hit me hard, it got to the point where I couldn't physically leave my house, I would have panic attacks and fainted twice over the course of my first semester in college before I had to go to school. I ended up missing a lot of days and ended up failing my first semester, btw the letter addressed to me saying that I failed arrived on New Years Eve so my dad was extremely pissed. Additionally my beloved Abuela passed away the first Monday of the New Year, so on Jan. 4** **th** **, I now have a legitimate reason to despise Mondays. Her death literally happened in the span of three days, on Saturday she was hospitalized for severe stomach pain, on Sunday the doctors told us it might be kidney failure when they noticed one day later that she wasn't peeing regularly, my family was going insane trying to find the medication that she needed to treat her but they weren't able to find it in any of the hospitals, she died alone at 4:00 Monday morning in the hospital. The situation in Venezuela is disgusting, people are dying every single day because they can't afford to buy food (people who were middle class are now the poor, the poor are now the dying, the 'rich' can't find anything and are trying to escape) basically everyone is starving, medicine that could have been used to save people's lives like my grandmother can't be found anywhere. Unfortunately only my mom and dad were able to go to the wake and the funeral because we couldn't afford buying 6 plane tickets to Venezuela to burry my grandmother. It has been really difficult year for my family so far. In the end I decided to take a year off school to get my life together (it was one of the options the college I was going to gave me, they said I could readmit in a year), I'll be taking courses at the community college (during the summer and the fall) until I can go back to my original school, for now I have to find a job... Basically I'm not really in the right state of mind at the moment, my family is falling apart because my mother's grief over lousing her mother is causing her to lose her rationality, my sister Nana is literally drowning in school work (she's doing the I.B. diploma) and is snapping at everyone, I learned that my younger sister (code name) Mono is being bullied horribly at school by the 'cool kids' and I hadn't noticed it until now, my youngest sister (code name) Annoyer is failing school and only has one friend because the other kids don't like her…. Not to mention that I can't find a fucking therapist or a psychiatrist… I haven't really had much inspiration for writing lately. I'm still going to be updating my stories. I'M NOT DROPPING ANY OF MY STORIES! But please understand if they are a little late.**

 **Chapter 4 is going to be posted hopefully at the end of the month per usual. Thank you for your patience. This chapter is dedicated to all of you who have reviewed even if it was just to tell me to update quickly (you know who you are Guest-san)…**

 **3,462 Words**

 **Love, Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:** _The new School year…_

 _Disclaimer: Yea… still don't own Naruto._

"You got my head spinning, no kidding" **Japanese**

 _"I can't pin you down"_ _ **Spanish**_

 _'Give you're all to me and I'll give you all of me'_ _ **Thought**_

 ** _"My heads under water, but I'm breathing fine" English_**

Two weeks had passed from Marivi's initial encounter with the Sandaime Hokage, and Naruto was in fact starting his first day at the Ninja Academy that sunny morning. Marivi bustled around her small kitchen speedily as she simultaneously packed two small obentos and served breakfast all at once. She could hear the sound of her clumsy little brother getting dressed through the thin walls as well as his not so muffled curse when he accidentally stubbed his toe on the door.

Marivi giggled as the petulant child stomped to the table and sat down dramatically, "It's not funny nee-chan!" he whined.

Marivi looked away from the auburn haired boy as a cute pout formed on his lips, "Hmm, of course not otouto!" She teased as Naruto's pout deepened dramatically.

"Nee-chan! Stop laughing!" he demanded pointing at her imperiously as he began to shovel food down his throat.

Pulling out a chair, Marivi plopped down ungracefully as she set down the obentos before beginning to eat, "But Naru-chan I'm not laughing."

"Yes you are!" he accused, "You're laughing on the inside! I can tell!"

This time Marivi laughed boisterously out loud at her little brother's outrageous accusation, "Well now I'm laughing Naru-chin!" she said cheerfully before calming down and continuing her meal as her otouto continued to whine playfully at his nee-chan's 'meanie' attitude.

The two siblings finished their breakfast happily before pulling up their masks and stepping out of the apartment together quietly, their playful banter coming to an end.

After Naruto's free hand (as the other was holding onto his obento) slipped into hers, Marivi and Mateo began to walk cautiously towards the academy. While they didn't live too deep into the red light district it still wasn't completely safe for them to be out in the open, the good thing was that it was early in the morning so the chances of someone trying to mug them were low… besides, most of the dwellers of the red light district didn't rob from each other but from the _visitors_ that come to enjoy the _pleasures_ the district can offer them. Since the duo had been living in the district for a while now the local residents recognized them and generally left them alone.

The academy seemed to come into view too quickly, and by the tightening squeeze on Marivi's hand she knew that Mateo wasn't too ready for their separation either. Seas of children of different ages ran around cheerfully as parents tried to get their respective kids to the right classroom. Loud, happy voices washed over the two siblings as they stepped through the gates.

Marivi could see some parents shoot dirty looks at her when they thought she wasn't looking, after all she was 'much too young to be mother' in the opinion of the majority of people (civilians).

"Nee-chan?" Mateo's quiet voice miraculously seemed to carry up to her.

"Yea, Mateo?" She asked looking down at the nervous seven year old.

He inhaled shakily before letting it back out, _"I'm gonna be going to the academy as Mateo right?"_ he tried to confirm shakily in Spanish.

Marivi nodded, _"Yea, remember? That's the deal we made with the Hokage….."_

 _~FLASHBACK~_

 _"Arteaga-san," the Hokage sighed in resignation, his scrutinizing glare finally disappearing, "Naruto has become extremely attached to you, frankly I believe that if I was to separate you now… the boy would never forgive me. I can also see that you genuinely seem to care for Naruto."_

 _Marivi looked at the wizened man before her as he took in a deep breath, "I will not separate you from him, despite the fact that your arrival to Konoha is beyond normal and suspicious. But you're going to have to tell me a little bit about yourself before I actually let you have the legal guardianship over Naruto. You will also be followed by Anbu for a while to see if you're actually a trust worthy person. Because of Naruto-kun's position as the Jinchuuriki of the Ninetails, he is going to have to be trained in the Ninja arts so that he can protect himself from those whom might want to monopolize or hurt him because of the fox. Do you agree with these terms, Arteaga-san?"_

 _Marivi closed her eyes, envisioning the little bright ball of sunshine that was anxiously-tearfully-waiting for her outside of his office, "Hai, Hokage-sama. I agree to these terms." She said confidently._

 _The Hokage nodded, "Now you said that you were living in Tokyo? Is this your home village?" he asked inquiringly._

 _"No it is not. I was born in a different… village, called Colombia. In Colombia the language spoken isn't Japanese but Spanish. It is my first language. When I was a child we moved to another village called America, which was hard since I had to learn a different language called English which was the predominant language spoken there , I lived in New York City until my parents got a divorce and remarried different people. My dad stayed in New York with his wife, my step brother and my half sibling…. Whereas my mom and I moved to Japan with her husband." She explained._

 _The Sandaime raised his right eyebrow questioningly, "I thought you said that you were living in Tokyo?"_

 _Marivi blushed and rubbed a stand of her hair sheepishly, "Hai, Tokyo is- how do I explain this? Tokyo is like a district! It is a district or a smaller village residing inside of Japan's boarders. New York City is the same way; it's a district inside of the boarders of America."_

 _"I see."_

 _Marivi nervously began playing with the hem of her skirt once more, "Hokage-sama, when I moved to Japan I snapped. I was angry at my parents; I was angry that I'd been forced to move to a new country and have to start from the beginning all over again. I had to learn how to speak Japanese, learn the customs and traditions of the people living there so I wouldn't accidentally offend anyone… I had to leave all of my friends behind, and it felt as if my parents were slowly replacing me with their new families. I was stupid." She admitted with a shrug, "I fell into a bad crowd and starting doing things that I shouldn't have been doing, my pregnancy is the result of one such night of… misdoings. Though now I wouldn't change it for the world, since that's what really snapped me out of my trance of idioticy."_

 _The Hokage's stare seemed to burn into her skin, but she refused to look at the man feeling the familiar shame and self-loathing that would often accompany her atrocious actions before her appearance in the Naruto universe._

 _"Arteaga-san, thank you for entrusting me with that information, especially since it seems to be about a subject that greatly discomforts you to speak of." The old Hokage said sincerely making Marivi flush in embracement. "There is another thing that I am curious about though, Arteaga-san. Why is Naruto-kun wearing a disguise?"_

 _Marivi finally looked back up at the Hokage confidently, "To protect him. Hoshino-san, my employer, originally came up with that idea after Naru-chan and I were harassed by drunken villagers one night. We gave him the choice of what color hair dye he wanted to paint his hair and he chose auburn because he wanted to look more like me. We bought face masks to cover up his whisker marks, since it would have been redundant for us to dye his blonde air only for him to be recognized by his facial birthmarks. I started wearing masks too so that we could pass it off as a clan thing… like you said it's a bit obvious that I am a foreign person because of certain facial features, we decided that this would be the easiest way for us to pass off as siblings, I even gave him another name that we would use outside of the house so that no one would make the connection between Naru-chan and Mateo. Everyone stopped questioning our relationship after that, but most importantly Naru-chan is safer this way. Like Naru-chan said, it was an added perk that we looked like a pair of real blood related siblings."_

 _The Sandaime sighed, "That was a rather good solution to your problem. Naruto-kun is better protected this way by disguising his identity, but this could pose as a problem for his impending ninja carrier. After all, I need Uzumaki Naruto to become a ninja of Konoha, to be recognized as a ninja of Konoha by the civilians as well as other fellow shinobi… not Arteaga Mateo."_

 _Marivi looked at him worriedly, "But if we get rid of the disguise, we'll be putting Naru-chan in danger… especially when they figure out he's living with me, we'll get kicked out of our apartment and then…." She rambled anxiously as panic began to overcome her rationality._

 _"Arteaga-san, calm down! Panicking in that form is not healthy for the baby… Besides, that is not my intention. After Naruto-kun masters the henge jutsu in the academy, Arteaga Mateo will disappear and Uzumaki Naruto will take his place. That way he'll be able to keep up the disguise outside of the academy." He explained soothingly._

 _Marivi blinked rapidly as the information the Hokage explained to her sunk into her skull, "I see… th-that's rather smart."_

 _The Hokage snorted at the mystified and some-what dumbfounded expression on her face, "Were you doubting me Arteaga-san?" he questioned her somewhat teasingly._

 _Marivi's eye's widened dramatically as she flailed her hands in denial, "NO! No, that's not what I meant! I was just saying that-" her nervous explanation was cut off by the Sandaime's soft chuckle, causing a small frown-pout-to tug on her lips, "You were just teasing me, weren't you?" she accused, only to receive a small smile in return._

 _"Anbu, please send for Naruto-kun now." He commanded the hidden assassins._

 _~END OF FLASHBACK~_

 _"You are going to go to the academy as Mateo until you learn how to do the henge, then 'Mateo' is going to drop out and 'Naruto' is going start."_ She explained, for what felt like the hundredth time, in a whispered voice. _"This is going to be a secret between you, me and_ Hokage-sama… _Mateo so that we can keep up our disguise in order to keep you safe."_ She told him determinedly as she brushed some of his auburn hair out of his face.

"Right." He said under his breath as he stared at the ninja academy in the same determination she was trying to impress on him. "Okay! Here I go…" he said turning to look back up at his beloved nee-chan, "You'll be here to pick me up right?" he asked.

"Yup. It's my little brother's first day of school after all." She said proudly while ruffling his hair gently.

He nodded before standing on his tippy-toes and kissing Marivi on the cheek through his mask, "Bye nee-chan!" he then kissed her belly in farewell too and whispered to his future niece or nephew, "Bye-bye baby! See you soon!"

Marivi smiled and kissed the top of his head, her cloth mask being the only barrier between them, "Bye otouto. I'll see you soon, have a good day."

He smiled up at her nervously through the white mask and nodded before turning around, "Remember!" she called out to his retreating back as he entered his classroom, _"Te amo!"_ Mateo turned around and waved before he disappeared from her sight.

Marivi sighed, _'Children grow up so fast….'_ She thought absentmindedly as her free hand rubbed soothing circles over her belly as she walked to Hoshino's bookstore at a sedate pace.

The familiar jingle of someone entering the bookstore rang merrily as light footsteps made their way through the aisles of books. Marivi paused momentarily from shelving the new shipment of books that they had gotten and made her way to the counter and began to clean up the area; Hoshino-san, unfortunately, was a bit of a slob, "Welcome to Hoshino's Bookstore! Hoshino-san stepped out a couple of minutes ago; if you need any assistance please don't be afraid to ask."

"Hai. Thank you." A bored baritone voice greeted her ears politely as he stared at the books sitting in the shelves.

Her honey brown eyes widened in surprise as she stared at the Jounin in front of her, sure Marivi had known that she would someday have to meet the silver haired ninja (as he was one day going to become Naruto's sensei)… but she hadn't expected to meet him so soon, though considering the fact that the Hatake was an avid reader (even if it was just porn) she really shouldn't have been so surprised. Trying to play off her shock, as he hadn't even turned to look at her, she nonchalantly went back to where she had been stacking books in peace.

A couple of minutes had passed, the only sounds that could be heard being the sound of books being placed gently into their shelves and the sound of turning pages, before the mask wearing ninja broke the silence.

"Excuse me?" he said politely as she stopped her current task to look at him expectantly, "It seems that the order in where each book goes has changed since the last time I've been here…" he said somewhat uncomfortably to the pregnant employee, "I can't seem to find a book series written by Jiraiya-sama."

Marivi smiled amusedly underneath her white mask, "Ah, Icha-Icha Paradise did come out with a new book recently, luckily for you the shipment arrived yesterday."

"A-Ano…" the Jounin stammered somewhat uncomfortable, after all the majority of woman he knew absolutely detested the series and often made their displeasure know through their violent tendencies.

"Shinobi-san, you are going to have to help me unpack the boxes though if you want to purchase the book today. Due to the progressed state of my pregnancy, I was waiting for Hoshino-san to get back so that we do it together, but since you are here and infinitely stronger than the two of us put together… your help would be warmly welcomed." Marivi explained as she began to lead the befuddled Jounin to the back of the shop where they kept all of the shipments.

"Hatake Kakashi." He stated causing Marivi to turn to him in question, "My name is Hatake Kakashi, not Shinobi-san."

Marivi smirked, "Ah, I see. It's nice to meet you Hatake-san, I'm Arteaga Marivi."

Stopping in front of a pile of heavy boxes she turned back to the shinobi, "These are the boxes Hatake-san, if you could pick up as many as you can and follow me…" she trailed off as the Hatake lifted more than half of the boxes and turned to her for direction, nodding she motioned with her hand for him to follow her, "This way, when I was reorganizing the shelving system I decided to move the pornographic section to a more secluded corner of the shop, that way readers would be able to browse that section without fear of being judged upon or scorned by the public." She explained as they stopped in front of said section.

Hatake place the boxes gently on the ground and looked at her for further instruction, "That makes sense… one of the reasons I like to… shop in this bookstore was because of the privacy. Not many people know about this shop, so it's usually relatively empty… allowing me to browse in ease."

Marivi nodded in understanding as she pulled out a small knife and opened the cardboard box, "Yup, that's why I thought if I moved the section to a more secluded, private area it would make it more comfortable for shoppers." Straightening up she placed her right hand over her belly, mentally begging her unborn child to stop kicking in excitement, before turning to the older man and smiling beneath her mask, "This is the easier part; I just need to stack them in the shelves. You don't need to help me for this, you've done more than enough. Here," she said while handing him the newest addition of the Icha-Icha series, "I would like to give it to you for free, but as you stated before this business isn't exactly the most popular… so we need every penny we can make." she stated.

The grey haired man eye-smiled at her amusedly, "It's fine Arteaga-san… If you don't mind me asking, how far along are you?" he asked while looking at her belly curiously as he handed over the correct amount of money for his book.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm ready to drop any day now." She confessed, "And to be honest, I can't wait… being pregnant is tiring. My younger brother Mateo is extremely excited to become an Uncle though."

"Congratulations." Hatake said sincerely.

"Thank you." She said eye-smiling back up to him as he began to leave the bookstore, "Oh, by the way…" she called out to him making him turn around to look at her, "I like your mask."

He eye-smiled at her in amusement, "Back at you."

Giggling, Marivi waddled, as she didn't really walk anymore but waddle around to her destinations, back to where the shinobi had placed the boxes of books and started to shelve them.

"Arteaga-chan, it's 2:00. If you want to go pick up your otouto you should start heading out now, it's going to take you a while to get to the academy." The old grouchy voice of Hoshino-san interrupted her as she took stock in the backroom.

"Is it that late already?" Marivi asked in surprise as she took off her smock and hanged it up.

Hoshino-san smiled amusedly as he let out a gruff laugh, "Child you need to pay more attention to time…" as he watched the young pregnant woman waddle around hurriedly so that she could go pick up the small six year old that had become a part of her small family.

Blushing, Marivi smiled sheepishly up at the old man, "Ah, Hoshino-san… don't tease me…" she whined good naturedly. "I'm off, I'll be back with Mateo-chan soon." She said with a smile.

"Hai, hai. Just hurry up." He grouched with a wave.

Chuckling softly at her employer's attitude Marivi began her trek to the Academy; surprisingly it hadn't taken her very long to arrive at the shinobi school, looking around the yard she could see some other parents beginning to arrive at the grounds. She quickly waddled over to an old swing set underneath a sturdy looking tree, sitting own happily with a relieved sigh, she stretched out her legs in front of her and looked up to the sky. It was peaceful, there were big white puffy clouds slowly drifting across the horizon, birds of all natures were flying freely under the baby blue sky… it was so different from her universe, and it never failed to fill her with astonishment. Colombia, New York City and Tokyo were filled with pollution, poisoning the earth and the sky… this universe on the other hand, was clean. The air was purer and the water tasted sweeter. Marivi couldn't help but love the unindustrialized world.

Marivi snapped out of her train of thought when she noticed that children were finally being released from school, the sounds of joyous children running around and laughing as they were reunited with their parents filled the air.

Looking around from her perch, she tried to see if she could spot Mateo's auburn colored locks from the crowd.

"Nee-chan!" a familiar happy voice shouted in excitement from her right, looking up Marivi smiled lovingly at the six year old.

"Mateo!" she called back, equally excited to see the small boy as he ran across the small training ground to where she was perched.

Naruto wrapped his arms as far as he could around his nee-chan's swollen belly before burying his face into her dress, "I missed you." He whispered.

Marivi lightly massaged his head as a wide smile broke unto her face underneath her mask, "I missed you too outoto." Naruto looked up at her face and giggled as he felt the baby kick at the place he had been laying his head upon. Smiling gently at him, Marivi stood up slowly and extended her hand towards his and began walking back to the book store after he locked hands with hers.

Her little ninja in training to be, chirped happily about his first day as he swung their hands back and forth as they came off the main road to a side street. Marivi could feel happy little kicks under her palm as she rubbed her belly gently.

"Ano sa, ano sa… Nee-chan, what are we eating today?"

Marivi smiled gently at the small boy clutching her hand as the door of the book store jingled above them, "Hmm, I'm not sure… After all, I know of a little boy who started his first day at the academy today." She sing-songed, causing Naruto to blush underneath his mask.

"Does that mean we can eat ramen tonight?" Naruto asked shyly.

"If that's what my little ninja in training wants!" she chirrped.

"Yatta!"he cheered throwing his fist in the air.

"GAH!" Hoshino-san screamed as he fell out of his chair before scrambling up to his feet, "Lower your voices, you woke me up from my power nap!" he whined.

The siblings smiled sheepishly before simultaneously rubbing the back of their heads, "Sorry Hoshino-san/jiji."

"Che." The old man grumbled, "Whatever… How was your first day at the academy brat?"

Marivi giggled as she made her way back to shelving books as the two men comprising of what she considered to be her precious family chatted away loudly, before wincing as a particularly strong kick aimed at her bladder snapped her out of her amused thoughts. Her baby was going to be a troublemaker; she could just feel it in her bones.

Naruto cheered happily as they left the book store. Hoshino-san locked up the store before looking at them tiredly, "Lead the way Mateo-chan." As the three of them made their way to Ichiruku's Ramen Stand. Marivi looped her arm around the older man as they walked slowly towards the main street while Naruto skipped happily in front of them as he sang a silly little song about ramen.

"That boy is obsessed with those noodles." Hoshino-san grouched fondly as he stared at the six-year old.

"Yup, I'm slightly concerned that it's going to turn into an obsession when he's older." She confessed half amusedly and concerned.

Hoshino-san snorted before stating, "All shinobi are crazy anyway."

She giggled, "True."

 _Preview:_

 _Marivi groaned in pain as another contraction hit her, her hands clutched onto the sheets tightly as she rode out the wave of pain. Childbirth sucked._

 **Author's Note:** **Hallo! I'm ALIVE! So Kakashi has finally made an appearance! I hope you've enjoyed this latest chapter and I'll see you next month! Maybe…. Please don't kill me!**

 **3,787 Words**

 **Love, Mara-Chan (o l l o)**


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